The Storm looked in a little trouble midway through the third quarter when the Dragons opened up a then game-high 14-point lead.

However, much like the clash between the two sides in round two this year, the Storm had the better legs down the stretch.

By three quarter-time they'd cut the deficit to one point and then added 5.2 to 1.2 in the final term to win 16.5 (101) to 11.12 (78).

"We went in with a plan and we thought it worked,'' Stom co-coach Darryl Wilson said.

"Our ability to rotate heavily through the midfield definitely played a part in the final quarter.

"We ran the game out really strongly."

The Storm's final term surge was sparked by a superb team goal four minutes into the last quarter.

Midfielder Cal McCarty won a crucial contested ball on defensive 50, hit-up Caleb Sheahan who squared the ball to an attacking Patrick Blandford running through the middle of the ground.

Blandford found Jake Moorhead in space and the Storm midfielder produced a precise kick to set-up a Riley Clarke mark and goal.

The ball movement showed the Storm's running power, put them in front on the scoreboard and that's where they stayed.

Sandhurst, who was without Cooper Smith, Joel Wharton, Noah Walsh and Blair Holmes from the team that defeated Gisborne the previous round, was left to lament a missed opportunity.

Their pressure was first-class in the first half, but they probably didn't get full reward on the scoreboard and could have been further in front.

"We're disappointed because we should have been three or four goals up at half-time,'' Sandhurst coach Ashley Connick said.

"The second-half Strathfieldsaye got on top at the contest and then outworked us.

"They were better than us in the second-half and they didn't miss (shots at goal)."

The forwards of both teams had a big influence on the game.

Storm's James Schischka and Sandhurst's Matt Thornton kicked three goals each in the first term on their way to five-goal hauls for the match.

With Lachlan Sharp (20 goals), Kallen Geary (15 goals) and Caleb Ernst (eight goals) sidelined with injuries, the Storm needed to find some other avenues to goal.

Baxter Slater and Lachlan Gill bobbed up when it mattered most.

Slater kicked three goals in the second quarter when the Storm were under the pump and added a fourth in the final term.

Gill kicked four goals for the game and had a hand in a couple of others.

The negative for the Storm was a shoulder injury to number one ruckman Tim Hosking in the third quarter.

The Storm enters the general bye in second place on the ladder with 36 points - one win ahead of third-placed Golden Square and two wins clear of fourth-placed Kyneton.

Sandhurst slipped out of the top five to sixth place. The Dragons play fifth-placed South Bendigo next round in a game that could be season-defining for both clubs.

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